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Gruyère is my favorite. Supreme meltability combined with a deep nutty flavor. Perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches, fondues, you name it! What's your favorite cheese to cook with, and what do you do with it?

For the past couple of weeks, I've had a few cheeseworthy articles published on Serious Eats, a fantastic food website started at the beginning of this year. The column will be fairly regular, with posts usually coming out every week on Tuesday. Here are links to the three that have already been published:

Rob Kaufelt, proprietor of Murray's Cheese and co-author of the Murray's Cheese Handbook, will be on The Leonard Lopate Show on New York Public Radio, discussing French vs American cheeses with Leonard, Ruth Reichl and Anne Saxelby. Think tradition vs Whim. May the best curd win. Listen on Tuesday July 17th at noon or check the WNYC website for webcasts, podcasts and syndicated times.

UPDATE: The show was great, very informative and enjoyable to listen to. The only problem was that they hardly got a chance to talk about the cheeses themselves! Here's a link to download the entire segment (34 minutes long) from WNYC.

If we've missed anything or if you would like to let us know about any upcoming events, please use the contact form above.

Friday, July 13

Bastille Day: French Cheese & Wine
Daphne Zepos
Celebrate Bastille Day this year by indulging in a great summer selection of French cheese and wine and learning all about the history of this revolutionary holiday. Join our Fromagère and Sommelier for a night of tasting, stories, and revolution!
Where: Artisanal Cheese Center, 500 West 37th St., 2nd Fl., New York, NY
When: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
How Much: $75.00

This is the first installment of a new feature here on Curdnerds, where we list the week's upcoming cheese-related classes and other events throughout the U.S. If we've missed anything or if you would like to let us know about any upcoming events, please use the contact form above.

Last weekend boutique Brooklyn cheese shop Stinky Bklyn held its first annual cheese-eating contest as part of their neighborhood's Smith St. fair. The winner was Oliver Butler, who scarfed down 6 oz. of Cantal in one minute. In addition to the respect, admiration, and perhaps disbelief of his peers, the prize for winning the contest (as shown in the photo above) is a boxing-style belt inscribed with Butler's name.

You heard it here first, but there's an article in today's New York Times Dining & Wine section that covers the A.O.C. Camembert controversy in a bit more depth. One quote I found particularly interesting concerned the actual differences between raw-milk Camemberts and those made from treated milk. The following would imply that the differences are more subtle than commonly thought, and that using treated milk poses more of a marketing challenge than anything else:

Officials at two of the top cheese emporia in Paris, Quatrehomme and Barthélémy, said they will continue to sell only raw milk Camembert even though there is only a slight difference in taste between it and cheese made with milk that has been thermized or microfiltered.

“If the Camembert is from treated milk, I will warn all my customers — and I know my sales will go down,” said Nicole Barthélémy, owner of Barthélémy on the chic Rue de Grenelle in the seventh arrondissement.

While the vast majority of Camemberts made with treated milk are gummy and tasteless, I must say that the sentiment above actually gibes with a recent experience I had with Hervé Mons' Camembert from Whole FoodsFromagerie. It was easily the best treated-milk Camembert I'd ever tasted, and it certainly rivaled some of the raw-milk versions I've had. I don't know the specifics of the milk treatment on the cheeses that Hervé ages, but if anyone out there does know, please leave a comment below!

Next week the History Channel is showing an hour-long documentary on cheese as part of their Modern Marvels series. The episode, which premieres Wednesday June 27 at 10pm EDT, profiles cheesemaking technologies from ancient to modern, with particular attention to the wide variety of cheeses currently produced in Wisconsin and California.